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Things got a little heated during the NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend. It was the first of three races in the playoffs Round of 8, with the winning driver – Kyle Busch in this case – automatically advancing to the final four. With three laps left in the First Data 500, Denny Hamlin wrecked then-race leader Chase Elliott – both drivers are in the playoffs – and the two heatedly argued…

NEW YORK – A former aide to the president of the North American professional soccer federation was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 months in prison in the bribery scandal engulfing FIFA, the sport’s governing body.
Costas Takkas will serve five months behind bars after being given credit for 10 months already served in Switzerland. The British citizen also faces deportation.
“I should have known better than to…

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — South Korea’s sleepy skiing destination of Pyeongchang is finally looking like a Winter Olympics host city after more than a decade of work, two failed bids, and chapters of controversy over venue locations, construction delays and costs. With a little more than three months until the opening ceremony, workers are putting finishing touches on scenic skiing and sliding venues and high-rise athletes’ villages. Restaurants have popped…

If Twitter’s number-crunching coalition of baseball apologists are to be believed, the 2017 World Series has been not only one of the best in recent memory, but the best ever. Full stop. When things go “right” in post-PED baseball, however, the question is always “what’s the catch?”, and in the case of this year’s moonshot-pocked Fall Classic, the answer is the same no matter who you ask: Juiced baseballs. Baseballs…

IOWA CITY – You can see their silhouette in the windows of the children’s hospital from a distance. Sick kids and their parents watching a college football game from rooms that overlook Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium. You’ve probably heard or read about the Wave, the new tradition that takes place at the end of the first quarter of Iowa home games. Fans turn toward the hospital and wave to those kids…

Sports Illustrated’s 2017-18 college basketball projections are a collaboration between economist Dan Hanner, SI’s Chris Johnson and SI’s Jeremy Fuchs. The system uses college and AAU statistics, recruiting rankings and coaching data to project every Division I player and team. For a deeper look at how the system works, read this explainer. In the next installment of our preview, we’re revealing how our model stacks up every Division I team…

It’s the halfway point of the NFL season, and so far it’s been eight weeks filled with plenty of surprises and not too much great football. Among the surprises: The Buffalo Bills were supposed to be tanking, and yet they’re 5-2 heading into a brutal stretch of their schedule the next five weeks. The Los Angeles Rams come out of their bye tied for first place in the NFC West….

EAST LANSING – Miles Bridges has already received just about every preseason honor there is to receive. Now, a week before the Spartans kick off the regular season, he’s received perhaps the most prestigious of them all. The Michigan State star sophomore is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. The image features him and Sparty under the headline “School Spirit.” THIS WEEK’S COVER: Miles Bridges and Michigan State are back, plus…

How do you celebrate Halloween when you’re hot, rich and insanely fit?? You suit up (or strip down) with a baller costume — kinda like women’s tennis star Genie Bouchard, whose Bae-watch look gave us prime Pam Anderson flashbacks. Tons of other sports stars showed out too, including Steph Curry, Danica Patrick, Giancarlo Stanton, and Floyd Mayweather ﻿– who had a trifecta of get-ups for his hallo-weekend parties. Who wins the costume…

Before multiple cameras filmed skiers flying through the sky at enormous heights and snowboarders flipping in the air, Nordic skier Thorleif Haugh sped down the slopes and earned three gold medals. That was in 1924, at the first official Winter Olympic games in Chamonix, France, where 16 countries gathered to compete in sports like figure skating, speed skating, hockey, curling and more. While that was nearly a century ago, the…

Things got a little heated during the NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend. It was the first of three races in the playoffs Round of 8, with the winning driver – Kyle Busch in this case – automatically advancing to the final four. With three laps left in the First Data 500, Denny Hamlin wrecked then-race leader Chase Elliott – both drivers are in the playoffs – and the two heatedly argued…

NBC Universal is going small for what might be the broadest and most universally appealing TV event. The peacock is targeting its marketing approach to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea to different pscyhographics. The peacock is putting Olympic viewers into six such segments—including those drawn to the games for the athletes’ heartfelt stories and those who only watch the highlights—and is creating content specifically geared toward each type…

NBC Universal is going small for what might be the broadest and most universally appealing TV event. The peacock is targeting its marketing approach to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea to different pscyhographics. The peacock is putting Olympic viewers into six such segments—including those drawn to the games for the athletes’ heartfelt stories and those who only watch the highlights—and is creating content specifically geared toward each type…

On Sunday night at Martinsville Speedway, the NASCAR community collectively learned something it always knew: We need more short tracks. And honestly, to hell with the excuses, NASCAR. We’re all sick of hearing about the five-year sanctioning agreements, the lack of hospitality space, nearby casinos or whatever reason big league stock-car racing has evolved into weekly cookie-cutter slot-car events. The people have spoken. It’s been awhile since a…

NBC expects ad revenue in its upcoming coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics to surpass the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi by a low double-digit percentage, and says commercial time in the Super Bowl is “extraordinarily well sold.” “Our marketplace is healthy and sales for both Super Bowl and Winter Olympics games is brisk,” Dan Lovinger, executive VP of advertising sales at NBC Universal Sports Group, said during a press…

As Major League Baseballâs postseason is nearing the biggest celebration of all â the Houston Astros need one more victory to win the World Series, the Dodgers need two â it seems appropriate to ask: Where does this ritual come from? âGreat question, but I have no idea,â said Cubs reliever Pedro Strop, who celebrated a lot last year when his team snapped a 108-year drought and finally won the…

Drumbeats roar and electric music plays as people dressed in uniforms swing to the rhythm together. At first, it may seem like a rock concert, but this is actually what a South Korean baseball game is all about. South Korean baseball’s “cheer culture” is in many ways just as important as the game itself. Fans wear team uniforms and hit balloon sticks together to make some noise as cheerleaders dressed…

NBC expects ad revenue in its upcoming coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics to surpass the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi by a low double-digit percentage, and says commercial time in the Super Bowl is “extraordinarily well sold.” “Our marketplace is healthy and sales for both Super Bowl and Winter Olympics games is brisk,” Dan Lovinger, executive VP of advertising sales at NBC Universal Sports Group, said during a press…

HOUSTON — In the end, after more than 400 pitches and more than five hours, after the Astros had somehow managed to make one Dodger lead after another disappear before the Astros made a three-run lead of their own disappear in the 9th inning, what you felt at Minute Maid Park was not just the power and magic of the World Series. You felt the amazing, timeless power of…